December 17, 2015 (Advent Week 3)

One of our most beloved Christmas carols was written in 1865 by William Dix, an Englishman who managed a maritime insurance company and loved to write hymns. Sung to the English melody “Greensleeves,” some versions use the latter half of the first verse as a chorus for the other verses:

This, this is Christ the King,Whom shepherds guardand angels sing;Haste, haste to bring Him laud—The Babe, the Son of Mary.

But in other versions, each stanza is unique. The second verse, rarely sung today, looks beyond the manger to the cross:

Why lies He in such mean estate,Where ox and ass are feeding?Good Christian, fear, for sinners here,The silent Word is pleading.Nails, spear shall pierce Him through,The cross be borne for me, for you.Hail, hail the Word made flesh,The Babe, the Son of Mary.

Simeon said to Mary, “This Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:34-35).

The Child of Christmas came to be our Savior. “Joy, joy for Christ is born, the Babe, the Son of Mary.” The birth of Christ brought God to man; the cross of Christ brings man to God.